Fit With a Reason

Imagine that I can wake up on any given day and decide to hop on a bike and ride across a continent, or walk across a mountain range, or kayak across a sound, or whatever I dream up and really do it.

I spent years getting my body and mind honed into an adventure machine. Yeah that was me — lithe, light, full of endurance and ready to propel myself thru whatever nature has to ofer. That is until this year when my back reminded me that whatever adventures I’m planning for the near future, getting out of a chair without pain needs to be one of them.

These past few months I’ve been humbled – reduced to walking around the neighborhood and doing a light yoga practice. Gone are the 50 mile bike rides, long rowing sessions and the full-on-Ashtanga-yoga practice. My winter love handles are coming in nicely and my 14 year old son, who rows 3 hours a day, prances around the house in his underwear looking every bit like Adonis – all to remind me of what I am not.

Did I say that youth is wasted on the young? If I could lease his body for a month, you’d have to mount a GPS unit on my scull to keep track of me.

My back is creaky, but the art of the practice is alive and well. Every day I wake before sunrise, shower and head to a nearby yoga studio. It’s empty at that time and it’s where I hold space for meditation, reflection and yoga. This is when there are fewer tweets in the world from people, birds or smart phones. It’s the time to travel inside and unfurl my master blueprint.

It’s the blueprint that dictates the underlying reasons to keep training. Without the right intention, which maybe to bike across Israel for peace or to kayak to a far beach to lite a fire, it’s just burning calories to look good. It’s ok, but it’s like sex without love. I’ll take it but I want more.

The “more” is to explore wild places with new people and to cause a positive impact. That’s why keeping my body fit is just a signal to the universe that I am ready for adventure. –> Please send an invitation with a highlighted map.

For now my body is not ready and there are no invitations coming, but I know how to get there. I’ve done it before. So no matter how slow or frustrating my practice, I’ll keep doing it. And then I’ll stay awake to receive the invitation, before heading out again.

Great question. I keep fit, first because it feels so good. Like you, I can’t train as much as I did in the past (my twins are 6 now, so training has trailed off since they were old enough to play with). But I clearly know the feeling of being Ironman Fit; ready to race at the ultra distance. That keeps me motivated to get back to that level, even though there’s a possibility that I’ll never get there. Second, I’m competitive by nature. I still am quite active in sports and even when racing at the shorter distances, I want to be on the podium. That doesn’t always happen, but it does enough to make me want more. For you, Ronen, I’d suggest you commit yourself to a goal; an event that will challenge you, whether it’s kayaking to that beach, cycling a metric century or doing a Triathlon. When you have a goal that you are truly committed to, it will be inspiring to create a roadmap (I.e., training plan) to get yourself there! And having completed 209 triathlons, 11 Ironman races, a handful of Aquabikes and various marathons and half marathons, I can tell you with authority that it’s all about the journey, and little about the destination.

Chuck Graziano
Inspired Performance Coaching

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About Ronen Yaari

I’m no guru and I don’t have hundreds of hours of certifications. All I can claim is that I did not squander the time that I was given so far.
I took care of my body from an early age and realized that a fit body was going to be the vehicle of choice to propel me around the planet to find what I was supposed to find.
I ran marathons, biked continents, climbed glaciers, walked across states, sailed oceans, explored reefs and floated myself over yoga mats. If the sun is down I’m a sleep and if it’s up I’m outside. My biggest accomplishment by far is creating a family that enjoys each other and puts up with me.